Roy Rose docked Frank LoPreste's Royal Polaris May 7 at Fisherman's Landing after a wonderful trip for wahoo, maybe the best of the season. The 15 anglers aboard had limits of the skinnies.

"They were thick on the bank," said Rose. "It was excellent wahoo fishing. And we got ten cows, including the big one."

The big one was a 331-pound yellowfin bagged by David Fay, an independent key grip from LA.

"My best before this was a 248," noted Fay. "I've been doing these trips for five years. He bit on the slide on a mackerel. I had a lot of line out.

"This fish stayed on top almost the whole time, so I was mostly in high gear, because he kept coming at the boat. I wasn't thinking of how big he was. We didn't really know how big he was until Roy had them open the gate to bring him on. I never had a fish come through the gate before.

"They put him on the scales and started whooping and hollering. I may have lost a bigger one on the kite, on a double sardine rig. I got the tail and part of the spine of that fish back, after the sharks were done."

Fay said he fished with a 9/0 Super Mutu hook, 130-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and 130-pound Momoi line in front of 130-pound Line One Spectra, on an Avet 50 SDS reel and a Calstar 660 XXH rod. His best fish ever took 45 minutes to bring boatside.

Second place went to chartermaster Brandon Kreutel of SanDiegoLongRange.com. He got a 189-pound tuna.

Jerry Brown of Gold Hill, OR and Line One Spectra won third place for a 186-pounder.

He remarked on his limit of wahoo: "I got most trolling, on the orange and black Marauder. I don't know why they like that color so much. It doesn't look like anything in the water."

Chico Leonard of Alpine got a 267-pounder on a pelagic puffer pinned on a 20/0 ringed Super Mutu hook. He fished with 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 50 reel and a Calstar 760 H rod.

"I got the fish thanks to (deckhand) Dharyl Shelbourne," said Chico. "He coached me through it."

Ken Pernell of Oregon got a 257 and a 215-pound tuna.

Jack Gruschus of Corrales, NM got a hat trick with tuna of 206, 207 and 214 pounds. He said he fished dual sardines on the balloon on the slide, with 6/0 ringed Super Mutu hooks. He used 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Line One Spectra on an Accurate 50 W reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXXH rail rod.

"The big one stayed straight up and down in the stern corner," said Jack. "He kept going from one corner to the other. I've never got a cow before, and this time I got three."

Kathy Rounds of San Diego caught a 202-pounder.

"We go in for boat work now," said skipper Roy Rose. "You might mention that we'll be doing some day and a half trips in June, and also a three-day in mid-July, so there may be a couple of spots open."

"We're putting in three new Cummins QSK 19 engines," said owner Frank LoPreste, "and two new John Deere generators. Check our web site for pictures and the progress report."